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[DRAGONSTONE, WAR ROOM]
[KING STANNIS BARATHEON stands among his maps. MELISANDRE, GENDRY, and their accompanying soldiers enter.]
"Well, guess this is goodbye" Gendry muttered. He was going to die, there was no questioning it. But at least he knew what to do to avoid this. Get as far from King's Landing and every other city as possible. He'd jump to the Watch and desert if necessary.
[STANNIS walks over to GENDRY and grabs him by the chin to get a better look at his face. GENDRY stares back. GENDRY exits with the soldiers when dismissed.]
"What do you mean to do with him?"
"Isn't it obvious brother? She means to burn him too" Renly rolled his eyes
"I think I'm well aware of that fact" Stannis ground out.
"Then why ask?" Renly challenged.
"You know what I mean to do with him."
"Then why bathe him and dress him in fine clothes? If it needs to be done, do it. Don't torture the boy."
Stannis gave Renly a look that said, 'Just be patient boy.'
Renly did not like that look.
"If the lamb sees the knife, she panics. Her panic seeps into her meat, darkens it, fouls the flavour."
"So I'm a lamb now?" Gendry asked incredulously.
"Heretics, they never have a right mind," Varys said soothingly.
[DRAGONSTONE, DUNGEON]
[STANNIS enters and DAVOS rises to meet him. They talk across the bars that imprison DAVOS.]
"You're questioning that Red Whore" Robert said approvingly.
"How do you know?" Renly asked.
"He came to Ser Davos. Stannis trusts Ser Davos' counsel more than most. He's doubting it" Robert explained..
Stannis nods. Perhaps his brother was right.
Renly did not look too certain.
"You don't belong in a place like this."
"Well, it's sad to say, but I've seen worse."
"Yeah... I'm sorry about your son. Didn't get the chance to tell you before. Good lad. Loyal lad."
[DAVOS nods]
"Melisandre's returned. Came back with a bastard boy. Robert's bastard boy. She says there's power in king's blood."
"Least you can do is learn my name. I am your sacrificial lamb and all" Gendry grunted.
Robert snorted while Stannis rolled his eyes. There was no doubt that the boy was Robert's.
"She's going to kill him."
"Sacrifice him."
"Forgive me, Your Grace, I'm not a learned man, but is there a difference between kill and sacrifice? The boy is your nephew."
"What of it? We're at war. Why should I spare the son of some tavern slut Robert bedded one drunken night?"
"Because he has your blood in his veins."
"So did Renly."
"Good, you recognize it " Renly mutters.
Stannis did not rise to the jab.
"Renly wronged you. Renly declared himself king when the throne belonged to you. He raised an army, and stole your bannermen."
Renly would have once boasted how those men had chosen him because they liked him better. But the reality was different to him now. He knew they were only there to put someone they could manipulate on the throne. Like the Tyrells had.
"This boy has done you no harm. He's an innocent."
"How many boys live in Westeros? How many girls? How many men? How many women? The darkness will devour them all, she says. The night that never ends. Unless I triumph. I never asked for this. No more than I asked to be king. We do not choose our destiny, but we must do our duty, no? Great or small, we must do our duty. What's one bastard boy against a kingdom?"
"She told you about the Long Night and White Walkers?" Ned Stark gasped, sitting up straighter. "How did she know about it to begin with?!"
"If her god can bring people from the dead, maybe her visions in the flames are not so made up" Catelyn suggested, though she did not look too happy about being the one to make that connection.
Ned relaxed just slightly. He had an explanation, but he did not like it. This woman, with such an important piece of information, chose instead to burn people and not rally them together or have someone rally them for her. Who would she fight with if all were burnt in the end?!
Stannis stared stoically. Was this how she got to him? His unshaken sense of duty? His strongest trait and the one he always prided in used against him... He wasn't sure how he felt about it.
"Your Grace, why did you come to see me today?"
"I came to free you. If you swear never to raise your hand to the Lady Melisandre again."
"I swear it. I can't swear never to speak against her."
Robert snorted. He liked this man. Honest to a fault and not afraid to mince his words. And loyal to boot! Ah, he could do with men like him.
"You have little regard for your own life."
"Quite little, Your Grace. Verging on none. You could have freed me yesterday or tomorrow, but you came to me now before this boy is put to the knife because you knew I'd counsel restraint. You came to hear me say it because you believe it yourself. You're not a man who slaughters innocents for gain or glory."
Robert gave a triumphant look. He was right.
Stannis was relieved that Robert was right.
Renly was still unconvinced.
[KING'S LANDING, THE SEPT OF BAELOR]
[QUEEN CERSEI LANNISTER and LADY MARGAERY TYRELL look on as the sept is prepared for the wedding.]
"You look radiant, Your Grace."
"Radiant? Why radiant?"
"It's the word that came to mind."
[MARGAERY takes CERSEI's arm in hers.]
"We're going to be sisters soon. We should be friends."
"You're 'naivety' won't fool everyone" Olenna whispered to her granddaughter.
"It needs to fool just the right people" Margaery countered with a smile. "Cersei Lannister regrettably is not one of them."
Olenna nods. Good, her granddaughter had not lost her touch.
[They begin to descend into the sept.]
"You're a musical girl, aren't you? I imagine you have a lovely voice."
"A better dancer than a singer, I'm afraid."
"Ah, but you know the song 'The Rains of Castamere'?"
"Everyone bloody knows it" Robert snorted. Those Lannisters love to play and remind people about it.
[They pass SER LORAS TYRELL, and stop a bit further along.]
"Of course. They play it so often here at court."
"So you know the story of House Reyne of Castamere?"
"Not as well as you, I'm sure."
"House Reyne was a powerful family. Very wealthy. The second wealthiest in Westeros. Aren't the Tyrells the second wealthiest family in Westeros now? Of course, ambitious climbers don't want to stop on the second-highest rung. If only you could take that final step, you'd see further than all the rest. You'd be alone with nothing but blue sky above you. So Lord Reyne built a castle as grand as Casterly Rock. He gave his wife diamonds larger than any my mother ever wore. And finally one day, he rebelled against my father."
"They rebelled against Grandfather" Jaime corrected with a grimace. He remembered the lesson well. "Father took the fight to them, but grandfather was the Lord then."
Myrcella nods. She already knew this, even if her mother would insist else time to time. She loved to tell this tale the most.
[They continue down the great stairs to the main floor.]
"I remember seeing their bodies hanging high above the gates of Casterly Rock. My father let them rot up there all summer. It was a long summer. 'And now the rains weep o'er their halls, and not a soul to hear."
[They pause. CERSEI looks MARGAERY in the eye and frees her arm.]
"If you ever call me sister again, I'll have you strangled in your sleep."
"So uncouth" Olenna Tyrell clicked her tongue, but it was nothing playful. Her eyes were harsh and sharp, her gaze promised pain.
Margaery patted her Grandmother's hand soothingly. No need to say that the woman was protective of her family.
[OUTSIDE THE SEPT]
[The great doors open to the Sept of Baelor. SANSA walks through them, alone.]
"My wedding," Sansa said in a hollow tone. It was one thing that he'd be marrying the imp. But she hadn't realised until now that she'd be doing it alone...
[INSIDE THE SEPT]
[TYRION stands on the stage, watching SANSA enter at the other side of the sept. The crowd quiets. SANSA pauses at the top of the steps. KING JOFFREY BARATHEON approaches, smirking.]
"What are you doing?"
"Your Father's gone. As the father of the realm, it is my duty to give you away to your husband."
Ned's hand clenched. As if it wasn't enough that the bastard killed him, but that he'd take his place too. Ned wanted to strangle him.
[SANSA takes JOFFREY's arm. The doors close. They descend the stairs and walk through the crowd, SANSA and JOFFREY approach TYRION, passing SER BRONN OF THE BLACKWATER, MARGAERY, LADY OLENNA TYRELL, LORAS, CERSEI, LORD TYWIN LANNISTER, and GRAND MAESTER PYCELLE, and reach TYRION and the HIGH SEPTON. JOFFREY reaches down and takes TYRION's step stool before noisily joining CERSEI and TYWIN. TYRION fumes.]
"You may now cloak the bride and bring her under your protection."
[SANSA turns her back to TYRION. He attempts to cloak SANSA, but he is too short.]
"Well, that's embarrassing."
Tyrion's voice made them all turn. The former Imp finally said something after a long time.
Jaime looked at Tyrion inquiringly, but his brother did not meet his gaze.
The Kingsguard sighed at that.
[JOFFREY snickers and some in the crowd join in. TYWIN quiets their rudeness with a look. SANSA kneels for TYRION. He places the cloak on her shoulders, and she accepts it. She rises.]
"Your Grace, Your Grace, my lords, my ladies, we stand here in the sight of gods and men to witness the union of man and wife. One flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever."
A somberness spread through the Starks particularly the ones from the present, particularly the parents. They should have been there for Sansa. It was a big day and they were not there for her.
Not this time. This time it would be different, the ones from the present all swore.